


Flowers In The Winter

by beets_me



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bittersweet Ending, Broken Promises, Cafes, Daehwi is bad at feelings, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Homophobia, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Memory Loss, Pining, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, and jihoon is good at advice, daehwi and guanlin are besties, hanahaki, jinyoung has a fashion company, oh yeah did I mention hanahaki, panwink is a ball of fluff, side panwink, some members are mentioned, why did I think tagging was gonna be easy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-04-19 11:20:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14236179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beets_me/pseuds/beets_me
Summary: Hanahaki. A disease of unrequited love.The boy had lost someone to it when he was a teenager.He tried not to think about it as he got older, but the scent and sight of flowers were addicting. Beautiful, how the flowers can die one season, but spring back up the next as if nothing happened.Daehwi tried to be like the flowers, to forget his past and move on.based off of beautiful (wanna one)





	1. Leave Your Mistakes In The Past (Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> Before you ask, Sungchoon is not a permanent part of the story. Just here for the prologue.

Lee Daehwi sat alone at the riverside, just as he did during lunch at school, just as he did during class, all while listening to the insults fired at him. This one nature-filled spot was his only getaway from the loud words that he heaved with him everyday. The beautiful sakura's fell into his dark brown hair, and he would watch a few land gently on the smooth river.

He often cried here by himself, trying to understand what he did wrong,  _what went wrong._  On some occasions, the poor boy would allow the blood from his wrists to drop into the body of water, contemplating whether the town would be better off without him. Today was one of those days. There was a certain group of boys that teased him everyday about how feminine his frame looked, and how burdened his mother was that she gave birth to him. Earlier, they had been chanting on about how his father left his family because he knew Daehwi was going to turn out this way. 

All he wanted to do was disappear on days like this.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" A familiar voice resounded within the woods, the person it came from clearly struggling to get through the bushes.

Daehwi's eyes widened in shock. He didn't know how anyone would have found this spot, did he cry too loud? Instinctively, he dipped his arm into the water next to him, and covered up the wounds with his sweater. He could hear the other boy getting closer.

"What are you doing here?" The teenage boy questioned. Daehwi got startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and the sudden contact made him jump just a little. 

Without asking for permission, the other boy sat himself next to Daehwi. "T-that's what I should be asking  _you_ " He replied with a hint of annoyance. The sentence didn't come out as confident as he intended it to; his voice was still a little shaky from when he was crying. The taller boy giggled when he heard Daehwi's cracking tone when he was speaking.

"Why're you crying? Don't tell me  _I_ made you cry..." There was a certain playfulness in his voice, the same playfulness that made Daehwi realize who it was. He turned to the boy next to him, only to see Jung Sungchoon. Sungchoon was one year older, but no one knew much about him, only that he was a transfer student who comes from a wealthy family, and no one knew what his parents' jobs were. The fortune made him practically untouchable. Although, the first time he came to Seongnam he was teased for speaking to Daehwi. The younger boy always felt like he was only spoken to out of pity.

"Stop it... I didn't tell you about this place for you to alarm me like that..." Originally, Daehwi showed this location to Sungchoon for a collaborative project the older grades were doing with them. The younger boy's memory was foggy, but he remembered that the older grades were working on an art project, and his class was working on a biology project, where they had to find 'inspiration', from nature. Him and Sungchoon chose to use the sakuras that blossomed during spring, and would easily go during winter.

Another thought crept it's way into Daehwi's mind, as he remembered the day he completely lied to Sungchoon about his gender. Daehwi admitted that he was scared of the way he might be treated if Sungchoon knew that he was a boy with such feminine features. He even said that Daehwi was just a nickname, and he would never tell Sungchoon what his real name was. 

The days that followed were filled with Daehwi trying to get away from Sungchoon, always scared he would fall in love with who he thought was a girl. The young boy didn't want to be responsible for the death of his only friend, especially not by hanahaki. Daehwi saw him as nothing but a close friend, but would never be involved in anything his mother would be disappointed in.

"You're right. And I'm sorry.." The words spoken by the older interrupted his thoughts, as he attempted to shift further away from the tall young man seated next to him. Only to be stopped when Sungchoon swung his arm over Daehwi's slim shoulders. "You know you can tell me what's wrong.  _right?_ " Sungchoon questioned. The scrawny boy could tell that Sungchoon was looking at his bloodied sleeve, but continued to look forward at the river. It shattered Daehwi's heart that he was telling such huge lies to his only friend. There was a realness in Sungchoon's voice, and it sounded so concerned for him.

That made Daehwi crack, and the boy allowed himself to fall into the taller's arms. He clutched onto the older male's shirt, as he stained it with snot and tears, just letting out whatever he had inside of him. "I- I can't seem to do anything right... My mother told me to find somewhere else to sleep tonight, or learn how to be more grateful for the food she cooks me... All I was trying to do was help, but I burnt one of her expensive pans.." The younger continued to sniffle, and Sungchoon wrapped his arms around him.

"I'll stay here with you tonight.. I'll stay with you,  _always._ " 

The two fell asleep afterwards. Basking in each other's warmth, able to feel each other's breath.

***

The sound of birds woke the Daehwi up. He opened his beautiful, uneven eyes, which were met by Sungchoon's. The older boy gave him a quick grin, and pulled Daehwi back to his chest for a hug. This sudden action startled the younger, and he let out a small sigh. "Look at the flowers Daehwi.. They almost cover up the river." The smaller turned his head a bit, and glanced at the water, which was beautifully blanketed by different colours. "Wow." Is all he could say at his amazement. No words could describe how alluring the area looked.

Just as he was staring, he felt soft lips give him a small peck on the forehead. Naturally, Daehwi pushed himself away from Sungchoon."Wha- What are you doing Sungchoon?!" The boy quickly stood up, and Sungchoon did the same. "Oh, I'm so sorry if that made you uncomfortable! What can I do to make it up to you?" The taller male asked, still extremely nervous. Daehwi wanted to finally tell Sungchoon the truth, before anything else happened between them. 

He took so long, but now was the right time to tell Sungchoon everything he was hiding. He was so afraid that their friendship would be ruined, but on the inside, he knew that this secret would be just another weight on his shoulders. With trembling hands, and a shaking voice, he said "I'm a boy Sungchoon." He looked at the latter with worried eyes, different from when he woke up this morning. They were sparkling from the tears, _and still_ , looked so pretty in the light. 

"I can't keep it from you anymore Sungchoon. We can't be anything more then friends. I don't think I like you in that type of way. I know your parents will be mad, and so will mine. It's really for the better, I hope you understand that I'm doing this for the good of both of us. Just stay away from me. I don't love you, and I really don't want to see you again." Daehwi's heart felt like it was crumbling, breaking. Every word that was coming out of his mouth was a lie. His thoughts were all scrambled. His heart said that he was meant to be with Sungchoon, but his head told him otherwise.

"It's ok" The older male silenced him, gazing at him with dead eyes. Daehwi could see tears beginning to form, but Sungchoon turned away.

"W-where are you going?" Is all that Daehwi could get out.

"Away. Like you want."

Daehwi felt like crying, but the his eyes remained dry. Within his jumbled thoughts, he just heard Sungchoon's voice saying over and over. "I'll stay with you, always." But now he had lost the one person that was important to him, and it was all his fault.

 

Sungchoon's family had left the town that evening. The same evening Daehwi was told that Sungchoon had died from hanahaki, a very rare disease of one-sided love. 


	2. Seoulmates Cafe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally wanted to finish and publish this chapter earlier, but I just finished the boy next door webdrama  
> ANYWAY!!! I hope you enjoy this chapter!!

It's been 4 years since Daehwi lost Sungchoon. Some mornings he woke up hoping he was still 15. He would do anything to make things right, he would do anything to get that person he loved back. The times that followed the hanahaki incident consisted of lots of tears, until Daehwi could get back up on his feet. Even though he couldn't change the past, he told himself to find some sort of cure. Of course there were ways such as removal of petals, but that would mean losing your love for that person, and you could easily fall back in love with them after a certain time. 

Daehwi decided to take up biology and physics, so he could expand his knowledge of the rare disease. He was currently studying at one of the top universities in Seoul, and it wasn't easy to convince his mom to pay for the tuition, so he had to make it worth the cost. She used more then half of the strawberry farm's money to cover Daehwi's education. 

The sound of metallic pans banging together was bothering Daehwi all morning. It was most likely that it was his roommate Lai Guanlin. The Taiwanese boy did this every morning ever since he began to live with him, and he never took a hint that this method wouldn't be able to wake Daehwi up. The noises stopped for a second, and the young man was glad he would be able to fall back asleep in peace and quiet.  _CRASH._

The door sounded like it fell off of it's hinges, and hesitantly, Daehwi lifted a lid, wanting to close it again once the sun seeped past his lashes, shining into his dark brown eyes. Guanlin stood there with an apron, and what appeared to be two bread knives in his hands. "I swear to God, Lee Daehwi, I will cut that pretty little face of yours if you don't get up within the next five seconds." The older boy rolled out of his bed, letting out a loud groan as he unraveled himself from the warmth of his bed sheets, and the bright rays of sun hit his skin when Guanlin walked over to the window to completely open the blinds. "Just give me a few more minutes.." Daehwi said, still half asleep. Guanlin was forced to walk over and seat Daehwi upright, cross-legged. He then tasked himself to slap Daehwi straight across the face, leaving a red mark.

"What the hell was that for?!" Daehwi retorted as he clutched his now probably-bruised cheek. Guanlin tsked, and shot back at Daehwi, "Maybe if you woke up from me banging the pans together, you wouldn't need to get slapped every morning". The younger motioned a finger at Daehwi's leg, which was still red from the day before. The older boy let out a small, stubborn, "mhm" and waved Guanlin out of his room.

Daehwi took a moment to regain his consciousness, and tipped his head backwards to stare at the painted ceiling. The person who had this dorm before he did was someone named 'Kim Taehyung'. Originally he wanted to paint over it, but the way the man drew the sakuras reminded him of home.  _Also because he was told when he bought the dorm not to touch the ceiling._ Daehwi then looked back in front of him at the mirror, and realized how much of a mess he was at the moment. His hair was sticking up from his head so high it was practically breaking the law of gravity.

Dubiously getting up, Daehwi brushed a hand through his dark brown locks, and walked past the almost-broken door. He then entered the kitchen, feeling like he was going to trip over his own feet due to how drowsy he felt today. Guanlin was waiting at the tiny kitchen island as he slid over a plate of strawberries to Daehwi. "Your mom sent these from the farm this morning. She told me that it's only for you but I deserve  _some_ for waking you up every morning." The younger took another one of the mouth watering berries and easily popped it into his mouth.

"Would you look at that, my mom still cares for me a tiny bit" Daehwi said in an obviously sarcastic tone, to which Guanlin responded, "I mean, your mom can't be that bad can she, you're still her so-". The Taiwanese boy was cut off my loud knocks on the door. "I bet it's that,  _Park Jihoon,_ guy's delivery again." Daehwi told Guanlin. Everyone in the school knew how much Jihoon admired Kim Taehyung, but once he moved out to become a professional artist, no one had the courage to tell him that he was sending his gifts to the wrong house. Daehwi and Guanlin, being the respectful boys they were, always sent the gifts to Taehyung instead, still under Jihoon's name. "I'll get it.." The younger male began making his way to the door. "What is it this time?" Daehwi questioned as he took one bite from the sweet strawberry, and heard the other young man walking back into the kitchen. Guanlin made a loud  _thud_ as he sat down next to Daehwi  in the kitchen. Daehwi felt chills. Last time he saw Guanlin looked so shocked was when he found out how much time projects took to make in University. 

"Is that some sort of letter from Jihoon?" The older boy tried to look over the taller boy's shoulder, who was still frozen in surprise. "It's... Our dorm bills..." The way Guanlin turned and looked at Daehwi was like a scene from a horror movie. The younger's face pale and soulless.

As Daehwi snatched the paper from his roommate's hand, he gazed at the paper, completely unsure as to how to pay for the coverage. "Holy. Shit." Guanlin finally got out. "Have any bright ideas on how we can pay this off, my oh-so-smart roommate of mine?" Guanlin wiggled his eyebrows, surely expecting an answer from Daehwi.

It would be extremely difficult to find the chance for a part time job right now. At the moment, Daehwi was studying for a huge exam regarding physics, and was also working on a project about hanahaki for his boss. The young man currently had an internship with Guanlin's dad, who happened to be a big time biologist, and disease researcher, which is why Guanlin needed to step into the medical field. The Taiwanese boy's dad was extremely strict, meaning he wouldn't lend his own son money, telling him to find a way to pay by himself.

"Wait, aren't you getting paid by my dad from that internship?" The younger boy's head jolted up at this epiphany, and Daehwi felt like he's told Guanlin more than a thousand times, "I. AM. AN. UNPAID. INTERN." You could probably hear the amount of stress in his voice. Daehwi rubbed at his temples, knowing that it wouldn't make all of his problems dissapear, but just hoping it would be enough to tell Guanlin to shut up already.  

The only way at this point for Jihoon to get paid for hanahaki research would be by some big breakthrough discovery. Daehwi only happened to have learned one new thing right now. That was that you only get hanahaki when the love is really true. Kind of like the red string of fate, type of love. When you would do anything for your love, even if you knew you could die. As long as you know you are dying with that true feeling in your heart. 

Most people, _even though there weren't many with the disease_ , chose to die instead of removing the petals. In the cases that you  _do_ choose to get the flowers removed, you would still be able to love them once again.

And so, the two sat in silence, trying to stop the tears from trickling down their faces. Guanlin was letting out really ugly groans of shame, while Daehwi scrunched his face in disgust. Maybe it would be easier to think without Guanlin constantly whining.

Daehwi traced out the letters of the paper, in attempts to distract himself from Guanlin's sobbing,  _and then it hit him._ "I think I know what you can help with Guanlin!" The other boy began sniffling, face now ugly and red, with tears, drool, and snot. "I remembered that Jihoon works at his mom's place in that underground mall!" Daehwi exclaimed. Just as he was about to finish off his extravagant idea, Guanlin stole his thunder, finishing it off instead. "Oh! I can ask to work there too! They always look like they need help there anyway! She's got a pretty crowded shop.."

Daehwi looked past the fact that Guanlin just tried to steal his idea, and instead focused on the fact that they were about to make some money! Daehwi could tell by Guanlin's expression that he had regained some dignity. It probably felt good to know that you're making money by yourself. 

Now it was Daehwi's duty to find a job. He still needed to cover 50% of the rent.

"I should get going now to talk to Jihoon about getting a job at his mom's place. Who knows, maybe we might be able to get free clothes from there?" Guanlin stuck out his bottom lip in a sort of pout, and shrugged at the idea. "I'll just grab my jacket and drop by Jihoon's house for a bit, but I'll text you when I get back!" It wasn't a surprise that Guanlin knew where Jihoon lived. The two became friends easily when they were assigned to work together on a project, and by the looks of it, Jihoon's mom was very fond of the Taiwanese boy.

"I'll probably leave soon too.. You know, job hunting.." Daehwi pulled a newspaper out from under a pile of trash that laid on the counter, both of the boys always too lazy to clean up after themselves, even though the garbage can was less then 5 steps away. Daehwi waved around the newspaper as he bid his friend goodbye, and good luck.

Once the door shut, Daehwi's focus moved to the newspaper in his hand. To be honest, he had no idea how newspapers were formatted. He scrolled through each of the pages in hopes that he would find the job page, or hoping he didn't miss it in the jumble of paper. After a good 5 minutes, Daehwi ended up pulling out his phone to check the time, and saw that he had practically the entire day to find a job.

His fingers tapped the kitchen counter, as he pondered.  _Should I search up the jobs online? It's easier, but it's hard to find available part time jobs in this area._ What Daehwi ended up deciding on was that he would walk around, and try to find 'now hiring' signs plastered up on windows. Most of the smaller businesses and cafe's in Seoul preferred to have a sign up, rather than advertising, and interviewing online anyway.

Now having finished choosing how he was going to find a job, he needed to find decent clothes. Unlike Guanlin, he got embarrassed easily. Guanlin walked out of the dorm after throwing a jacket over his pajamas, but if Daehwi did that, he'd feel anxious, and end up thinking everyone was staring at him. The boy finally got up from the stool, and stretched a bit, his legs feeling numb and sore from sitting for so long. Since he was standing, he might as well have thrown all of the garbage away. He grabbed the plastic bag from under the sink, and with one swipe of his arm, all of the trash fell into the bag.

He sighed, and stared at the counter for a while, seeing how much cleaner the whole room looked without a pile of who know's what, sitting on the counter.

Daehwi then began to work his way to his room, and then his organized closet. It was pretty much the only thing he put time into organizing. Tiredly, he slipped on a neat, ironed, black and white striped dress shirt. He then threw a grey sweater vest over it. He kept his lower garments simple, and only wore black jeans along with black aocks with red stripes on the top.

The young man finally walked into the washroom, and examined his face in the mirror, seeing how much of a wreck he looked. Taking a deep sigh, he plugged in the straightening iron, and brushed his teeth as usual. While waiting for the iron to heat, he applied a small amount of makeup, mostly just BB cream, eyebrow gel, and pink lip gloss, with the addition of contacts to make his pupils appear bigger. He gently poked the iron, and felt that it was hot enough for him to curl his bangs a bit. 

Today was chillier then usual, so he had decided to wear his long padded coat over his outfit, along with a black beret, but kept the jacket unzipped for people to still see his clothes. As Daehwi walked towards the mirror to check himself out, he admitted to feeling slightly insecure about how skinny his frame was, so pulled the zipper back up, in order to hide his thin body.

After that, Daehwi finally headed to the exit, and walked out, making sure to lock the door behind him. 

He unsteadily walked down the building's hallway, trying to not let the blow to his head make him fall over. Of course, his leg was still in pain, and still extremely red from after Guanlin decided to strike it with his bony hands. 

Daehwi soon made it to the bottom floor of the building, and reached into his pockets just before pushing on the doors and going outside. The cold winter air hit his face, feeling like daggers poking into his skin. He squinted his eyes as the tears from the cold began to freeze under his eyelashes, and so he lifted up his jacket, trying to keep more of his face warm. He began to walk the streets, jealous that Guanlin was probably basking in the warmth of the indoors right now.

He picked up the pace, hoping to pass by more stores faster. Daehwi kept it up until his fingers became numb. Of course, he tried to move his hands, but he really was outside for too long already, and so told himself to stop by at the next cafe to drink some hot chocolate. The boy never drank coffee. After his roommate 'accidentally' switched their cups, and the flavour took Daehwi by surprise, he didn't want to taste that bitterness ever again.

As Daehwi walked, he was choosing between either lemongrass-lavender White Hot Chocolate, or just his simple caramel hot chocolate. He finally spotted a cafe, with a sign that read ' _Seoulmates'_ , and under it, a small label that said ' _Where you find the drink you were made for'._ Daehwi simply shrugged, and marched into the shop. The place was larger then he had anticipated. It looked fairly small from the outside, but the space looked rather open, and had two floors, with glass jars containing light bulbs dangling from the ceiling.

Daehwi was surprised he'd never been here before. By the looks of it, the place was pretty popular, or maybe it was just the weather. All of the staff members looked extremely occupied, in a rush to get all of the orders out. The boy squeezed through a group of girls to get to the lineup, slightly flushed from all of the contact, and he could feel his face reddening, although not noticeable since his cheeks were pink from the cold. He glanced up at the menu as he waited in line. Once he saw the prices, his jaw dropped. Daehwi stepped out of line, allowing the person behind him to advance. He was too broke for this! He wouldn't be able to afford his specific order, considering the regular hot chocolate,  _without whipped cream,_  was $15.00.

He had to admit that he was a little disappointed that he couldn't drink anything. He wanted to treat himself for walking around in the cold for so long, but treating himself could wait now that he saw the prices. The boy said to himself afterwards that he should just keep searching for a job for now, and treat both himself and Guanlin to some drinks from this place when they paid off their dorm room.

On his way out, he couldn't help but notice a large red sign hung on one of the walls. It was a miracle! It was fate! It was a now hiring sign!

***

Daehwi laid on the couch, taking up the entire space. He never changed out of his current clothes after getting home, too lazy to do so. His laptop was sitting on his knees, as he leaned forward to scroll and type. He heard cracking when he moved a bit, and realized he'd been sitting here for almost the whole day already. It was already getting dark, and Guanlin had not came back yet, it was most likely that he had started working today since it was the weekend. 

It's not like the job was that strict anyway.

The boy resumed, as he pulled up a file of his resume that he used when applying for the lab internship. He was going to use the application again, until he realized that most of the information listed on the sheet had nothing to do with working at a cafe. Majority of the resume consisted of his grades and class attendance. It was fine though, he just had to make a few adjustments.

He instead wrote about different events he volunteered for, how he is responsible, and manages his time well. He deleted the portion that talked about his science grades, and replaced it with his experience in the catering and food business. To be honest, Daehwi had lots of experience from working at his mom's strawberry themed dessert restaurant.

He never worked as a waiter, but he knew how to prepare different types of foods and drinks suitable enough for a cafe.

It took Daehwi about 45 minutes to finish up his resume, and he shut his laptop, finally stretching. He had sat down for so long that he lost the blood circulation to his legs, making it even more difficult to stand. The boy fell a few times on his way to his room, originally getting up to grab his phone and call the cafe.

After successfully dragging his body across the floor using his arms, grip, and furniture, he dialed the cafe. He sat on the floor, leaning against the mattress as he listened to the phone make a beeping sound, waiting for someone to pick up. "Hello, Seoulmates cafe, how may I help you?" The voice on the other side of the line sounded intimidating. By the man's tone, he sounded extremely tough, unlike someone who worked at a cafe. 

"Oh, um, I was actually calling to get more information on getting a job there! The cafe seemed really crowded and busy, and I didn't want to bother any of the staff at the moment." Daehwi rambled on, until he was finally interrupted by the staff member.

"Well, to apply you will only need a resume and interview. I can find you an available time right now if you want to have an interview sometime soon." The boy was very surprised at how kind the man came off, considering how frightening he seemed at first.

"Y-yeah, that would be great! So what time is the employer available?" Daehwi asked, ready to clear some time off of his busy schedule.

"Actually, I  _am,_ your employer. How does tomorrow sound at around 2:30 pm?" The man on the other side of the line responded quickly.

"Of course! That's a good time! Can I also get your name by the way?" The boy was always ready for interviews, and fairly good at them. For some reason he had a way to respond well under pressure.

"I'm Hwang Minhyun, but please, just call me Minhyun!" The boy could practically hear him grinning on the other side of the phone.

"Ah, ok! I'm Lee Daehwi by the way, and I'm looking forward to the interview tomorrow!" Daehwi happily replied.

"Well then, have a wonderful evening, and I'll see you later!" Just like that, Minhyun hung up the phone, and Daehwi felt somewhat comforted by the employer. He seemed really nice.

He sat for a second, and shrugged to himself, wondering how that was such an easy going call. He proceeded to lifting himself up from the ground by grabbing the night stand, bringing him up to his feet. He got up just in time as he heard the doorbell ring.

Daehwi used the wall as support while he walked to the door, and checked who it was through the peep hole. _Of course it was Guanlin_.

He grunted and opened up the door. "Did you forget your keys for the millionth time this week?" Daehwi asked as he rolled his eyes, making sure Guanlin saw him doing so. "Haha. yup.." The younger said as he looked down in shame.

"At least I was home this time to open the door for you rather than you waiting outside for me." Daehwi walked away, and into the kitchen as he pulled frozen beef out of the freezer.

"What dish containing beef do you wanna eat today?" Guanlin threw off his shoes as he ran over to the fridge, shutting the freezer door in front of Daehwi's face.

"No need my dear friend! Jihoon invited us out to eat out with him at some Korean BBQ place!" Guanlin then glanced down at his watch.

"We have about half an hour until we leave." Daehwi nodded in response, and reopened the fridge to grab a strawberry from a bowl.

He popped the sweet fruit into his mouth, and his face lit up in delight. "We should give some of the strawberries to Jihoon, he seems to be doing so much for us." Guanlin pouted a bit while he plopped down stomach first onto the couch, still facing Daehwi's direction, the kitchen and the living room were connected. Daehwi swallowed the rest of the strawberry he was currently chewing. "Ok, I don't see any harm in that. He deserves it, he works pretty hard."

Guanlin smiled with a slight shade of pink painted on his cheeks. He immediately went back to his normal face, and widened his eyes. "By the way, how did job hunting go today Daehwi?" 

The shorter boy;s face lit up, excited just thinking about how he'll finally have a paying job soon. "I found a cafe I can work at, and tomorrow is my interview." Daehwi exclaimed as he packed a few strawberries into a cute pastel pink box. "Is it okay if I borrow an old suit?" He added on as he tied a white ribbon over the box and placed it into a small pastel pink and white gift bag.

"I need it for my interview, and I grew out my old suit." Daehwi asked Guanlin, who responded with "Why don't you get your mom to buy a suit and send it over?"

"In case you haven't noticed, my mom can't really afford a suit right now." Guanlin looked surprised at Daehwi's sudden answer, leaving him looking quite uncomfortable. Guanlin cleared his throat. "S-sure. I'll lend you an old and smaller suit."

Daehwi walked towards the couch, and motioned for Guanlin to move over a bit for him to sit down. Daehwi's legs were still somewhat numb, but still manageable.

The two young men spent their time watching TV until it was time to leave. 

***

"Aww, thank you so much!" Jihoon happily grabbed the bag as Guanlin handed it to him. "It's freshly farmed strawberries, I-I hope you like it!"

Daehwi gave a knowing look towards Guanlin, raising one eyebrow and smirking. He knew that Guanlin got nervous when he spoke to people more than a year older than him, but he had always been comfortable enough to talk to Jihoon. 

All of the boys sat down and waited for a waiter to come by with a menu. "So what did you two do today?" Daehwi planted his elbows on the table, throwing both of them an unexpected smile and placing his head onto his hands. Guanlin stared down, looking extremely flushed. Daehwi tried not to giggle at the sight of Guanlin in this state. 

"Well after he talked to my mom about the job, him and I worked for a while, and I had to instruct him." Jihoon looked at Daehwi as he reached for the tea pot, and began pouring in drinks for all of them. "Did you do anything else after that Guanlin? Because you came home pretty late."

Guanlin looked up, and jumped a bit at the mention of his name, almost making the drinks spill. "W-well we went sho-shopping.. And I bought Jihoon some of those clothes he's wearing right now."

"Oh yeah! I just realized you guys have the same shirt!" Daehwi moved his hand to grab his tea, and bowed a bit to Jihoon in thanks for pouring it.

"I mean, Jihoon helped me a lot, so it's how I thanked him.." Guanlin smiled at Jihoon a bit while the older boy wasn't looking, instead waving over a waiter. The three thanked the man after he had given them the menus, but Jihoon already seemed to know what to order.

The older recited all of the foods to the next waiter that passed.

"So you guys went on like.. A mini date? Those things usually only happen in Kdramas." Daehwi watched Guanlin's eyes widen, and become as red as the strawberries he handed Jihoon. The other boy laughed a bit, resting his hand over Guanlin's. "Guanlin was just being sweet!"

You know what, Daehwi's had enough with this fluffy couple-y stuff.

"Did you guys hear about that fashion icon coming to Seoul?" Daehwi asked in attempts to change the subject.

"Actually, yes. I heard his son is a model for his fashion company. And correct me if I'm wrong, but his son is gonna take over the company soon?" Jihoon seemed to know his stuff. It was expected though, knowing that most of his mom's clothes from her clothing store is sponsored by the company. He always wondered why a shop as popular as Jihoon's mom's, never wanted to make the store into a franchise.

Guanlin spoke up, now comfortable with the topic. "A lot of the girls in my class have been talking about how _handsome he is.."_ The last part of the sentence came out as a failed attempt to imitate the girls. "and he came to Seoul from France since the company's headquarters are here, which is where he's training."

The other two older boys nodded their heads, somewhat interested in the information.

"The food's here!" Daehwi said when he checked behind him.

...They talked all night about pointless things until the restaurant closed, and Daehwi occasionally teased Guanlin and Jihoon every time he got the chance. Eventually it was time to part ways with Jihoon, and the two wished him a safe walk and good night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (adding onto the beginning note) I composed a song about kdrama cliche's cuz im trash like that *cough* and hate it when the girl interrupts those BL moments and relationships *cough*
> 
> 1st: I have no idea how to end chapters
> 
> 2nd: I was supposed to be studying but now look what happened. Oh well~


	3. What do you recommend?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cant friggin title chapters sorry. Enjoy~

"Hello! I hope you're having a great day! Are you ready to start ordering?" Daehwi asked one of the customers. He looked at the register, ready to insert whatever it was the customer was asking for, and leaning down just a bit in order to hear what they were saying through the large crowd of people.

He had to admit that the cafe was ran in a way he wasn't used to, kind of like how Panera Bread was ran. They ordered at the front, and then they seated themselves. The customers would hold onto a button which showed the waiters where they were sitting.

The hiring process was not as difficult as he imagined it to be either. Daehwi had a short interview, probably less than 10 minutes, and it consisted mostly of basic questions that even a 10 year old could answer. Although, he continued to believe that they had a good understanding of what type of an employee he was from his resume. The owner of the restaurant was a sweet old woman that they called Owner Lee, and after speaking with a numerous amount of the workers, he found out that she was easy going, and that she believed people learned from mistakes. Not regret.

She was known to make the right choices when it came to hiring, so Daehwi really didn't want to disappoint owner Lee.

Daehwi had just finished taking the customer's order, and handed them both the button, and the receipt; he scratched his head worriedly. He decided to grow out his hair, and let his darker roots show after he found that his scalp was bleeding last night from the bleach and scratching. He looked at his finger tips to see if his head was doing fine, which luckily, it was.

He was about ready to take the next customer's order, until he realized that there really was no one else in line. He gazed around the room for a second, and saw that most of the customers were already seated. They were either being served, or had begun eating. Daehwi had to admit that it was a peaceful cafe after the morning rush, and so he headed towards the kitchen area where the chefs were cleaning up all of the used dishes, to see if he could help with anything else in the meantime.

His tired legs carried him, as he held onto the counter. His legs were always what took the blow when Guanlin hit him in the morning to wake him up. He really needed to make it habit to wake up when his alarm went off. As he was about to step into the kitchen, he heard the bell on top of the door ring, the sound it made when the door opened. He was pretty sure that it would just be a customer leaving, since the morning rush was over.

Instead, Daehwi's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped at the sight that lay before him.

A tall, slender, young looking man held a posh posture, and was striding over to the front counter. He was wearing chic sunglasses, and had one hand occupied by holding a black blazer, that was slung over his broad shoulders. His empty hand ran through his hair as he pulled his sunglasses up. The customer took a deep breath, that made one of the buttons on his button-up shirt look like it was going to pop off. He look liked he just ran a whole lot, but still kept his composure.

"Hi.." The older-looking male half-exhaled, still panting. The two flashed a smile at each other at the same time. It was like if you looked at them together from the distance, you would only see a blinding light of adorable, and beauty.

A few girls sitting at the second floor were taking pictures of the man, most of their boyfriends looking extremely envious. It almost made Daehwi giggle out loud at how much girls would swoon over an attractive man that they barely knew.

"Hello! Welcome to Seoulmates, what can I get for you?" Daehwi recited, trying to sound like he didn't know who this man was.

"I've never really been here before, but I'll take whatever's popular." The model sounded very unsure, and as a new employee, Daehwi wanted to show that he was capable of helping customers no matter the situation. _Sure_ , he was serving a model slash business man, but right now, it was only his job that was important to him.

"Actually, this cafe's specialty is serving customized drinks. If anything on the menu catches your eye, you can order that too. Though, we don't really have a drink or any desserts that get ordered constantly.." Daehwi face contorted as this realization, and he tilted his head slightly. He never said it out loud, but now that he did, it was true. His lips went into a small pout, the same kind Guanlin did. He probably picked it up from spending so much time with him.

"Okay then. What would _you_ recommended?" The model leaned in and tilted his head a bit. The girls around the cafe looked awfully flustered at the action, but Daehwi didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable or weird. He wanted to make him feel more normal in this cafe.

"Actually, there's a drink I haven't been able to afford myself. But I think you'll like it!" Daehwi smiles, and one of his eyes disappeared into a crescent.

"Oh?" Is all the older male replied with.

"How does lemongrass-lavender white hot chocolate sound?" Daehwi had to admit that he was slightly nervous that he would get laughed at for such a strange type of order. Instead, the older smiled, and pulled out his credit card.

"I'll have two." The model responded. Daehwi was shocked he was getting two to be honest. Was it possible that the famous Bae Jinyoung had a secret girlfriend? Screw this job, Daehwi could tell the press about this and get paid a whole lot of money.

Daehwi saw Jinyoung's hand wave in front of his face, realizing he was dozing off, thinking about how much money he could make if he just gossiped a little.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry.." Daehwi put his head down slightly as he handed Jinyoung the card machine.

"And here you go!" The younger delicately grabbed out the button tracker and placed it on the counter, waiting for Jinyoung to take it.

The model seemed hesitant to pick it up, until Daehwi told him it was just something to keep track of where to serve the drinks.

"Thank you!" Bae Jinyoung said to Daehwi, as he took the button, holding onto it until he went over to a random empty table. It sucked though that there were only a few tables left, and all of them so happened to be surrounded by other tables that were taken by fangirls.

Daehwi watched as Jinyoung seated himself, and saw how popular he was. He felt a jealousy in his stomach since Jinyoung could get girls so easily, without even looking or talking to them. The fact that he was so kind, smart, and respectful didn't help either. He was the epitome of perfection, and Daehwi hated it. The business his father owns was handed down to him too. He didn't have to work hard for what he had, and that annoyed the younger, and extremely insecure boy.

After a few minutes had passed of Daehwi examining this man, the drinks were served. The girl who was serving the drinks looked really bewildered, just being in the presence of the man. It was funny though when she almost tripped and spilled the drinks on him, until Daehwi realized it would be a mess _he_ had to deal with.

Daehwi sighed and placed his head on top of his hand, and leaned on the counter. He dipped his head and sighed. It was so aggravating that he can look so good just by being on his phone.

In the midst of his staring, Bae Jinyoung looked back up at him, and flashed him a small smile with a thumbs up. He actually liked the drink. This made Daehwi giggle a bit, knowing that the beverage didn't suit many people's taste buds.

The young man then arose from his position, and was about to head back to where the barista's were, resuming his job and assisting a bit in the kitchen. He stopped halfway after he heard someone scream "Hey!"

He twisted his head slowly, nervous that he would see a customer waiting at the register. Now it would look like he was ignorant enough to miss a customer, or like he was ignoring them by walking into the kitchen. _Turns out it was just Jinyoung again_.

"Oh, can I help you with anything else?" Daehwi asked as his shoulders became less tense. In a more relaxed manner, he cutely waddled back to the counter.

"Here!" Jinyoung beamed a smile at Daehwi and held out one of the cups of coffee. The younger boy furrowed his brows.

"Was it really that bad?" The smaller boy questioned. Daehwi raised one eyebrow, looking sadly surprised. Now Jinyoung was getting on his nerves. He holds up this oh so perfect image, and even gave Daehwi a thumbs up at a drink. He'd rather have him tell him it's bad straight up rather then giving it back like that.

"No no! Don't get me wrong! I loved the drink, it's actually the best thing I've have in a while. It's practical compared to what the restaurants I go to sell. Not that I'm complaining!" Jinyoung looked fairly nervous, like he was trying his best to not get out the wrong words. "I actually ordered two so you can have one." The older boy grabbed Daehwi's slim wrists, and forced his hand to the cup, allowing him to grab it.

"Wait what?" Daehwi was taken by surprise, but he was pretty saddened that he couldn't quit this job and make money off of the potential articles that would have made headlines.

"Well you told me that you couldn't afford it, and it's the least I can do for you. You're one of the few people that treat me like an actual human being." Jinyoung threw him a very warm, and legitimate smile.

"Oh, thank you... Have a great day Bae Jinyoung." Daehwi tried to smile back before the model had walked away. He despised that fact that Jinyoung bought the drink for him. The only thing he could think about was how much pity the rich model had for him. _Well it was enough pity to buy him a pricey drink_. All Jinyoung was doing was trying to show the public that he was such a sweet guy who cared for the lower class. But Daehwi wasn't gonna fall for the act.

The boy held the hot chocolate, and angrily sipped his drink, and glared at Jinyoung as the older man walked out of the shop, wanting to stick his tongue out, but there were people watching him.

Once Jinyoung had exited, Daehwi shut his eyes, just savoring the flavour emitting from the velvety, smooth beverage. He nearly choked when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"That was Bae Jinyoung!" A sweet old woman cried out. To his dismay, Daehwi turned around and saw owner Lee.

"You did so well Daehwi! You've only been working here for a few days, and you already got Bae Jinyoung to buy you a drink!" The elder laughed, and the statement made Daehwi blush a bit out of embarrassment.

"Well, I'll be heading back to my office. You go enjoy your cup of hot cocoa!" Owner Lee used her cane as she walked, entering a nicely decorated wooden door. That was the first time that Daehwi had spoken to the owner, _and it's true_ , she _was_ a sweetheart. He was also slightly aggravated when the door had made a squeaking sound as it closed and opened.

Glancing back up to the top floor, there were a few girls snapping photo's of Daehwi with the drink that was just offered to him. He awkwardly covered his bright pink face with his empty hand and marched over to the kitchen.

***

The skinny boy dragged his feet as he walked to the entrance of his dorm. Today he decided to work longer in attempts to make more profit then he would part time. Daehwi had just ran through the rain, but luckily he had his long padded coat with him. He wet the corridors that he was walking through with soaked shoes. Now that the seasons were changing, the snowfall was being replaced with rain, even though it was still freezing out.

As he strode, he let out a groan, realizing that he still had to study a bit, and do some research on hanahaki. The internship meant so much to Daehwi. He didn't want anyone else to lose someone that they cared for. He couldn't be the only one who said things that he didn't mean to say.

The words that fell out of his mouth that day were all lies, like acid to Sungchoon's heart. If he found some sort of cure, he can give the people as stupid as him another chance at love with whomever they cared for.

Once he had found himself at the door, he scanned his jacket for his keys. He pulled open a zippered pocket and reached in to grab them. His hands skillfully unlocked the semi-broken door lock, and he twisted the rusted knob to get in.

"I'm back Guanlin! Did you have dinner yet?" The young boy half-screamed to his roommate. He quickly slid off his shoes, and he was left in his plain white socks. "Why's the floor so clean suddenly?" Daehwi muttered to himself.

"We're in the living room Daehwi!" Guanlin yelled at Daehwi. Once Daehwi entered the living room, to his surprise, Jihoon was sitting there on the floor with Guanlin. There was a small table in the middle of the room, forcing the two to sit up against the couch, cross legged on the floor. They looked like they were sharing some take out food while watching whatever was playing on TV. "What's he doing here?" Daehwi questioned. Not that he was _annoyed_ at the presence of Jihoon, just a little shocked.

"I'm so sorry if I didn't tell you that Jihoon showed up!" Guanlin nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. Jihoon then spoke up. "I didn't know that Taehyung moved out last year, but Guanlin told me today. Sorry if I hassled you with all those deliveries." Jihoon's face flushed, most likely from embarrassment. "It's nothing really!" Daehwi interrupted, giving him a warm smile.

"I was actually just taking out the garbage, and I saw Jihoon waiting near the building, so I invited him in! And also his clothes were soaking from the rain, and his house is pretty far from here.." The younger trailed off. "I was just running a few errands for my mom when it started to rain. I already told her I'm going to stay here until it's okay to go out. There are a few weather warnings about freezing rain. We ended up ordering food from a nearby restaurant. I helped you clean up a bit though while waiting for the food." Jihoon added.

"Ahh makes sense. So I'm guessing your clothes are being washed, and Guanlin gave you his clothes?" Jihoon replied to Daehwi's question with a nod. "And feel free to stay the night if you must." Daehwi told the older. Jihoon looked really cute in the over sized clothes. No wonder Guanlin had a school girl-like crush on him, even though he would hate to admit it. Daehwi wasn't too supportive and accepting when it came to sexuality, but he trusted that Guanlin was in love, and he knew what was right to himself. Guanlin and Jihoon's parents were both very open minded people, so they would still approve of their sons' decisions.

Guanlin's dad though was just too focused on work to care about his son's relationship status.

"Anything interesting happen today?" Guanlin asked. Daehwi seated himself with the other two, and could feel Guanlin's gaze follow him, giving him a smug look.

"Not really. I just did the usual, serving customers and shit." Daehwi was pretty exhausted, not aware that he was being so profane. He coughed a bit, probably sick from the rain outside. Jihoon looked at him worriedly, but Daehwi waved it off. Daehwi still wanted to work, no matter his health condition, and he didn't want to have to pay for a checkup. A sliver of wind entered the room from the window that was slightly cracked open, but Daehwi was sensitive to the small gust as it made it's way past the curtains and into the living room. Probably because he was sick.

The boy let himself slide down to the floor since the leather couch was so slippery. Of course he had a few bites of food first.

" _Just,_ serving customers?" Guanlin held an article up that was displayed on his phone, practically shoving the device in Daehwi's face. The light emitting from Gunalin's phone lit up the dark living room, aside from the TV that was still on. It was blinding at first, but once Daehwi's eyes adjusted, he saw an image of Bae Jinyoung holding his wrist, his other hand offering a drink to him.

"How did you get that picture?" Daehwi asked, not completely surprised that the image got out that fast. It was titled something along the lines of _'Business man slash model, Bae Jinyoung, also a sweetheart?'_

"Well if a famous dude is seen giving a drink to someone who isn't famous, people are gonna start spreading it." Jihoon told Daehwi. Guanlin nodded his head, agreeing to what Jihoon just said.

"Why does it matter? All I did was serve him like a normal customer." Daehwi quickly said, starting to get up from his current position on the floor.

Guanlin held onto Daehwi's wrist, pulling him back to his spot. "Can't you see Daehwi?! If he's a regular customer, then you  _need_ to eventually become friends with him!" As much as Daehwi denied it, it's true. The man was a walking bank. He could help them out with paying the bills if he was really that closely acquainted with Jinyoung. Despite this, Daehwi still hated him. He knew that he gave him the drink because people were watching, trying to be this flawless man, as everyone calls him.

"No. He's probably not going to come back anyway." Daehwi excused himself from the table, and Jihoon and Guanlin saw how fast the boy's expression change from annoyed to angry. It was best not to bother him. He walked straight to his room, and gently rolled himself into the covers of his bed, far too tired to change out of his uniform.

For the rest of the evening, Daehwi could only think about his encounter with Jinyoung. The model was good at holding up that fake personality of his. Everything about him seemed too good to be true, and Daehwi was going to keep feeling skeptic about it.

The older man was just blinding everyone with this fake, perfect, personality of his. Daehwi wanted so badly to find all of his problems, and this job was the only way to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaack!!! Wow, so I know Japanese fluently now.... Speaking only, that is, I can't read or write it for my life.
> 
> I hope you guys liked this chapter! I'll try not to keep you waiting too long for the next one (/UWU)/~~  
> (In the meantime share it with all your wannable buds cuz i'm desperate help)


	4. Sick Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wootwoot! I'm back with another shitty title! Enjoy~

The classroom was quiet, the only noise filling it being the professor's voice. Majority of the class were trying to keep up with what the teacher was explaining in order to write notes, but the rest were either half asleep or already sleeping. But there sat Daehwi. The boy was extremely bothered by how irritated his scalp was, and it was already bad enough that he was sick in this climate.

It was obvious that the class wanted to leave already, everyone still worn out from the weekend. As soon as the professor had shut his book and dismissed his class, sighs of alleviation suffused the room. Daehwi was the one who needed rest the most though, but he still needed to work after his lessons ended.  _Lucky Guanlin._ Daehwi was thinking to himself.

Since Jihoon had stayed over, Guanlin decided to skip this one lesson and stay home for the day. Being the moody Daehwi he was in the morning, he unconsciously promised Guanlin that he would lend him all of his notes. He was usually awkward around Jihoon when Guanlin wasn't around. It was also a benefit that Guanlin and the older could stay together for the day. Every time they were together, there was a large amount of cleaning the two would do.

Daehwi's half lidded eyes tried to see past the blinding white of the snow that was still in the process of melting, which was luckily sped up by the rain. The piercing cold hit his skin when he stepped outside of the hall, but he cleverly brought a scarf with him today just so that his cold wouldn't worsen.

The walk back home felt fairly long today. Daehwi didn't want to accept that he wasted much of his time walking during the day rather then using his time efficiently working; so he told himself that his sickness was making time seem slower,  _because that was such a reasonable explanation._

Daehwi did the usual once he managed to make it to the dorm without dying from the cold. He opened the door, took off his shoes, and lazily threw his bag to the ground, even though the hanger was right next to him. Daehwi could hear that the TV was on, and then the familiar voice of the Taiwanese boy resounded from the living room. 

"You took longer then usual to get here." The younger said, voice sounding more annoying than usual. The sentence that just came out of Guanlin's mouth made Daehwi want to strangle him. He spent so much time during the walk home telling himself how it just  _felt_ longer. He responded with a groan, followed by a groggy, "The notes are in my bag" and headed straight to his room. He only put a hand up, too exhausted to wave it, when he saw Guanlin. By the looks of it, Jihoon had already left. The place was cleaner, the rain had stopped, and Guanlin was eating an actual homemade meal.  _Yup, Jihoon definitely just left._

Daehwi fell onto the floor of his newly cleaned room. The bed was too many steps away. His eyes fluttered closed, and next thing he knew, he was fast asleep.

***

The brown haired boy could feel how pale his face was as he awoke. There was a boy with black hair shaking him awake, and he realized it was Guanlin. "Daehwi? You up?" The older boy nodded, unable to feel half of his body. Guanlin asked another question, "Why are you on the floor?" Daehwi murmured, "If I walked to the bed, I would have probably died. Why do you want me to die so badly?"

Guanlin rumpled his brows, and quietly laughed. "That's a bit over dramatic.."  _and Daehwi admitted it was._

"I heard you fall and ran here as fast as I could..." The younger male began getting up from his squatting position. "And don't you have to leave for work? In like, 10 minutes?" Daehwi didn't even mean to fall asleep, and now he was going to be late for work?!

"Oh my God..." Daehwi weakly responded. He exaggeratedly got up and whined a bit about how he didn't do anything but sleep for half of the day. He didn't even do any hanahaki research today. Of course being responsible, and prepared, Daehwi's uniform was already laid out nicely atop of his bed. He lifted his eyebrows, and rubbed his eyes before getting dressed.

He walked out of his bedroom with creaking floors able to be heard. He looked over to the kitchen which Guanlin was standing in. "Woah, am I in a dream or did you actually cook soup? And is that ginger tea you're boiling?" Guanlin rolled his eyes at Daehwi. "Jihoon made it before he left. He could tell you were sick last night, so he told me to re-heat it for you when you got home." Guanlin smiled just by thinking about the older boy. Guanlin really was love struck, and Daehwi was sort of grossed out by all this touchy-feely stuff.

"As much as I want to stay and enjoy your boyfriend's food, I have to get to work." Daehwi smirked at the Taiwanese boy, who then blushed in response. "O-ok.." Guanlin said. Daehwi left the room, and waited in front of the door until he heard Guanlin lock it behind him. As he walked down the hallway, he could only think about how good that soup would have tasted, and now his stupid roommate gets it all to himself. As for the ginger tea, it wasn't exactly Daehwi's,  _cup of tea,_ but he knew it would really help his cold.

Daehwi had just gotten to the elevator, and then realized there was a sign up on the elevator doors. It read ' _Out Of Order. Sorry for the inconvenience'._ Now he just wanted to jump out the window; it would still be better than having to take the stairs. He still felt drowsy, but walking down a few flights wasn't gonna kill him,  _plus,_ it's not like there's anything else he can do.

The young man got out of the building, and was forced to face the chilling air once again. Luckily, the freezing rain had stopped the night before, but some roads were still closed due to too much ice on the road. Daehwi looked around and was astounded at the large amount of people that filled the sidewalk, some high school students were sliding along on the now frozen road in their large groups of friends. 

In Daehwi's state of distraction, he wasn't able to see a young woman approaching him, and it seemed as if she was struggling to get around in her bright pink stilettos. The young man couldn't react in time as she fell onto him, she let go of her white leather handbag to clutch onto Daehwi's jacket, preventing her from falling. Somehow, Daehwi managed to keep his balance. 

"I'm so so sorry!" The girl quickly picked up her expensive looking bag after practically jumping off of Daehwi. "You should be more careful, and wear different shoes. It's sort of risky going around on ice in those!" Daehwi gestured towards her heels and let out a slight giggle. "Yeah.. Again, I'm really sorry about that.." Daehwi dusted himself off a bit, and then took a look at the woman whom he had just ' _saved'._

She was extremely beautiful, like a model, but she still had a youthful glow. Her hair was partially covered by a fuzzy cap, but he could see light brown, silky, and naturally curly locks. As for her face, she had large eyes and full lips. She didn't look full Korean, maybe part European?

"No! It's my fault really! I was the one not looking.." Daehwi was getting lost in her eyes, until she interrupted him with a cough. "I'm actually late for something, but sorry again!" Daehwi nodded, realizing that he had somewhere to be as well. 

The walk to the cafe took around 8 minutes, since it wasn't very far from the apartment. In that short time, Daehwi couldn't get that girl off his mind. She was so perfect and pretty, but he had to convince himself that she was just another flawless being he would never meet again.

The boy opened the door to the cafe, and scanned the room. Not all of the seats were full right now because the morning rush had passed, but he knew more high school students would be coming in sometime soon since school had just ended. He walked to the counter, already slipping off his jacket, and ready to start working. 

Daehwi still didn't want to ask for an off day, even though he was extremely feverish. So he went to hang up his coat in the staff room, and proceeded to his work station as a cashier. He tiredly set his head onto the counter since no one was ordering, and attempted to hold in his coughs. 

"Oh Daehwi sweetie! Are you sick?" The boy heard a loud screech, and jumped to the conclusion that it was owner Lee's door. He then turned his head, not surprised at the old woman walking towards him. "Kind of, but it's not too bad", Daehwi responded, finally standing up straight.

"You poor thing! Don't overwork yourself, please work a shorter shift today, and then get some rest." The old woman was rambling on again, and then she handed him a surgical mask. "You wear this okay? I only want you working two hours, and then go home and relax." The young man compliantly responded with a nod, knowing full well that he needed that rest too.

1 hour and 40 minutes had passed by fairly quick. Daehwi barely did anything this shift since the rush hours had ended much earlier. Majority of his time was spent blowing his nose, and sanitizing his hands. He also disinfected pretty much everything he touched, afraid that he would get his co-workers sick as well.

 _I only have 20 minutes to go. Don't touch too many things, and there shouldn't be too many customers anytime soon._ Is what Daehwi told himself. He wanted to just lay in his bed and sleep forever at this point. He really felt out of it, and was now craving the soup that Jihoon had cooked.  _It smelt so good._

He jolted up in shock when he heard the bell over the door ring again. He wasn't sure if he should have been surprised or not when Bae Jinyoung walked in for the second time. 

"Oh, hi again.." Daehwi lethargically said. He wasn't even sure how to talk to a famous person right now, he barely had any control of himself since he felt so groggy at the moment.

"Hey! Do you have any other good recommendations this time?" The older male eagerly asked. 

"Uhhh..." Daehwi was pretty sure he sounded like he was drunk or high right now. He couldn't even be bothered by it though, so he replied to Jinyoung's question with, "Caramel hot chocolate with whipped cream. Extra salty caramel." Daehwi laughed a bit, and that laugh really  _did_ sound like he was drunk. Jinyoung proceeded to paying for two cups, but was giving Daehwi a questioning sort of stare.

The younger slid the button towards the model once again. Jinyoung didn't leave to sit at a table yet though. 

"Are you okay?" Jinyoung finally asked. The question pulled Daehwi out of his dazed state. There he goes again, Daehwi felt angry,  _again._ Jinyoung was showing pity towards him for the second time already, and it made Daehwi sick at how fake he could possibly act.

"Oh, um, yeah.. Don't worry about it." The younger tried to smile, but instead contorted his face. A feeling of nausea made it's way into his system, and he ran towards the back room. He leaned over the garbage and felt like he was going to throw up; all he could think about at this point was how badly he needed to go home. He never ended up vomiting though.

Once he got back out, Jinyoung was still standing at the counter, clearly worried about Daehwi. The younger boy's face flushed red at the situation they were just in, and he felt ashamed.

"When does your shift end?" Jinyoung asked Dehwi.

"About 6 more minutes I think.." Daehwi looked only at his feet as Jinyoung handed him the drink. Jinyoung then proceeded to saying "Make sure you rest once you get home, and don't drink that until you have some water first." Jinyoung was out the door right after that.

***

"Guanlin I just wanna die.." Daehwi laid on the couch, taking up the entire space. He was covered by a wool blanket, and had tons of pillows surrounding him as he stared up at the ceiling.

"I know. You've been saying that for hours now." Guanlin was sitting at the small coffee table which was in front of the couch, most likely doing homework, or copying Daehwi's notes from the morning.

"You should have seen all of their faces when I ran to the staff room. Why do these things only happen to me?" Daehwi groaned, and flipped over to his side in order to look at what was playing on TV.

"Don't be too harsh on yourself. There's nothing you can do about it, we all get sick at times. It's natural, don't over think it." The Taiwanese boy looked up from his papers for a second and looked at Daehwi's pouting face.

The younger boy then got up from where he was seated on the floor to check on the soup which was currently being heated for Daehwi. "I still can't believe you were actually kind enough to wait until I got home to have that soup." Daehwi semi-screamed to Guanlin, who was now bringing over two bowls.

"What can I say? Jihoon's been a good influence on me lately. Tomorrow after school and work, he's even gonna teach me how to cook a bit! His mom already agreed to letting us use their kitchen, so I might be out pretty long tomorrow." Guanlin said to the older male. Daehwi began to sit up, using a few pillows as support for his back, and took the bowl that Guanlin handed to him. 

"I'm just gonna go and get us some spoons and then I'll grab your tea for you." Guanlin went back into the kitchen, and quickly came back out.

"How could you become such a good person over the course of a few days? All I became was ill.." Daehwi uttered. Tonight was one of the boring nights Guanlin and him spent together. Usually they would go out and walk a bit, maybe even do karaoke when they felt like it. Although, they couldn't really do anything like that right now considering the state that Daehwi was currently in.

Even though he barely showed it, Daehwi was grateful that Guanlin ended up being his roommate.  _Sure,_ his dad was a major biologist that Daehwi wanted to work for, but Guanlin was always sweet and respectful when he needed to be. He was so confident all the time too. The boy seemed almost perfect, _like Bae Jinyoung perfect_ , but he had major flaws that he didn't try to mask and cover up, and that's the part that kept him from getting on Daehwi's nerves.

For one, Lai Guanlin seemed to be in love with a boy. That part made Daehwi sort of disgusted, but he soon learned that it's Guanlin's choice. Another issue was how much he whined. He would whine until he got what he wanted, but that made Daehwi love him like a brother that he could make fun of all day.

A hand interrupted Daehwi's thoughts, as it rested on his forehead. "Yeah, you're still sick.." Guanlin said.

" _Wooahhh! No really_?!" Daehwi retorted in a sarcastic manner. "I think I would have gotten better if you let me drink that caramel glazed hot chocolate.. You know you didn't have to drink it right in front of me?" Daehwi said, still somewhat annoyed. Guanlin used the excuse earlier that Daehwi would get sicker if he drank that, so he had it instead.

"Go to sleep Guanlin, you have school tomorrow. And it's your turn to give me the notes." Daehwi said as he threw a pillow at Guanlin.

"Fine. You're lucky that you get a sick day off school.." The younger pouted, and laid down next to Daehwi, both of them uncomfortably squeezed onto the small couch.

"Just go to sleep already.." And Daehwi hit him with a pillow again, earning a laugh from both of the boys when they realized how painful it was to sleep on a tiny sofa together.

***

 _"_ Hello!" __cough_ "_How may I"  _ _cough_ "_Help you-" __cough_ "_Today?" __cough cough cough.__

 _I_ _t's okay. Guanlin's going straight to Jihoon's house after school, he won't know I'm out working today._ Is what Daehwi thought as an mischievous smirk spread across his face.

He was ready, and hard at work in the cafe again, but this time with his own surgical mask with a cute heart design on it. On the bright side, Guanlin didn't hit him again this morning, instead he woke up to being crushed by the much taller male. It still wasn't as painful as being struck with a metal pan though.

Daehwi only spent about 12 minutes getting ready this morning. He was too tired to even care about how he looked today, so he spent 10 minutes on his phone, and the other  2 rushing out the door.

He had just finished helping a few customers with their orders, and then went back to being his nauseous self. Even though he didn't feel good, he still wanted to work in order to make money for the rent. He will overcome all obstacles including sickness for a few dollars.

The boy turned away for a while, and continuously coughed into his sleeve, careful not to infect anything else around him.

"Hello?" A familiar voice said.  _It's Bae Jinyoung. Again._

"Oh hey.." Daehwi casually said to the taller male. Guanlin and Jihoon were right, Jinyoung might actually be a regular at the cafe. He's already been there three times, maybe even more when Daehwi was off work.

"You still look sick. You shouldn't be working." Daehwi noticed this time that Jinyoung looked dead serious this time when he said this. Today, Daehwi looked pale, and his nose was red. You could tell it was stuffy too from the way he talked. His face was swollen, and his eyes were puffy.

"No. I'm really okay.." Daehwi smiled it off. He didn't want someone like Jinyoung getting into his business, and he so badly told him to mind his own. Now this whole,  _'look good for the public eye'_ thing was getting out of hand. Jinyoung probably knew people were snapping pictures and spreading the news about how he's such a good guy. Daehwi didn't want to be the one that people would pity.

"Let me talk to your boss." Jinyoung stared at Daehwi straight in the eyes, but the younger replied with "Why?"

"You there!" The older called out another employee. "Can you get your boss out for a second?" 

Daehwi could only think two things to himself; that his situation is embarrassing, and also,  _If he wasn't doing this for the public, why couldn't he handle the situation more quietly? There's no way that this guy is doing it for my good._

Next thing Daehwi heard was the old door opening. Owner Lee walked out and smiled at Jinyoung. 

"Oh hello! Is something wrong Mr. Bae?" the old woman asked. 

"Would you mind if this barista got off work for the day miss? He seems to be really sick, yesterday he was like this too." Daehwi kept his head down as Jinyoung spoke to the owner.

"Of course! I keep telling him to, but he's very persistent on staying.." Owner Lee sighed a bit, but mid-sentence, Daehwi interrupted. 

"I can get off work now." And just like that, Daehwi walked to the staff room to grab his coat, and began heading out of the store. He just wanted that entire scene going on in the cafe to end. There were so many people staring at him, and how weak and pitiful he was. It was probably one of the most embarrassing things to ever happen to him.

Daehwi stomped out, just wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, and as he was putting his coat on, he felt someone tug at the jacket. He wasn't surprised when he turned around to see Bae Jinyoung.

"Let me buy you some soup and a hot drink for your cold." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad you've been enjoying the story so far. I'm very open to feedback! :3
> 
> I honestly never know what to talk about in the author notes, but it's nice I guess to communicate to the people reading, even if you don't respond.
> 
> I always write the notes before I write the story so if I don't talk about the story a whole bunch in the notes please understand. (☭ ͜ʖ ☭) im sorry... But for these notes I actually wrote it after.
> 
> Don't worry about that girl for now, because this is a Jinhwi fic, and if you read my previous notes, you'd know that I hate those type of girls.. so yeah...
> 
> Somehow I had lots of time on my hands, so expect another update pretty soon!


	5. stress goes both ways

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I changed my shitty synopsis, and now its even shittier oops
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I noticed that it's like there are certain roles (you know what I mean) in boyxboy relationships and I'm trying to stay away from that sort of thing

The two were sitting in some sort of formal restaurant. There were blue ribbons draped around the room, decorating the place with a splash of colour over the dull beige walls. The waitresses and waiters all wore sophisticated ties and ribbons of sorts, and looked far too beautiful to just be working at a restaurant.

Then there was Daehwi and Jinyoung.

Jinyoung watched as Daehwi downed the rest of his hot tea, and then moved onto slowly sipping his soup. There was an awkward silence between the two, well at least awkward on Daehwi's half. He felt uncomfortable with Jinyoung's gaze following his movement, but he also didn't want to be rude since the older, richer, male was the one who had bought him all of this food to treat his cold.

One minute already felt like an entire year, but alas, the quietness was interrupted. "I'm sorry for dragging you here." The model said to Daehwi. 

"No, I'm sorry for putting you through all this trouble.." Daehwi glanced up, uncomfortably rubbing the back of his neck. "You really didn't have to do this you know? I could have just headed home after you got me out of work.." Despite the amount of hate Daehwi had for the older, he still felt bad when people did deeds like this for him, which is why he was so uncomfortable around the _extremely selfless_ and giving Park Jihoon.

"I have nothing else to do anyway, and it's like an unspoken duty to help people." Jinyoung shrugged, and sipped on his own latte as he finished up his sentence. He allowed one leg to rest on top of his other, making Bae Jinyoung look even more formal. "I've never formally introduced myself!" Daehwi's statement made Jinyoung jump in his seat, immediately losing his composure, and extremely dismayed by the younger boy. "My name is Lee Daehwi!" With a stern look on his face, Daehwi reached out his hand, expecting Jinyoung to shake it.  _Which he did._

"That's a really nice name... Ok, well then,  _Lee Daehwi,_ what do you do other than work as a barista?" Jinyoung asked as he pulled his hand away.

"I study physics and biology. And I work under Mr. Lai's bio corporation as an intern, but I'm kinda' stuck on a recent project that I was assigned." Daehwi told him with a small grin forming on his lips.

"What about?" Jinyoung questioned, seeming mildly intrigued. "Hanahaki. I don't really like talking about it outside of work though.." The younger's eyes were glued to the bowl of soup in front of him at this point. He didn't want even more pity thrown at him when he tells Jinyoung that he lost a close friend to the God-forsaken disease. 

"I understand.." From the corner of his eye, Daehwi also saw Jinyoung look down at his hands. Only a few seconds passed when Jinyoung asked for the bill, and he refused to tell Daehwi the cost, probably not wanting to make him feel bad about the expensive food.

"Let's head out now, I can probably get you a ride Daehwi." Jinyoung warmly smiled at him as he lead him out of the restaurant. The model slipped back on his cap and mask so no one would recognize him. 

As the two stepped into the cold, it was a matter of seconds until they realized it was raining. 

"Its freezing rain again." Daehwi said, unintentionally thinking out loud. "The roads are closed, but I can probably walk home from where we are. It's not too far.." Daehwi waved his hand at Jinyoung, ready to leave. Jinyoung stood there for a while with raised eyebrows. "But you're sick!" Daehwi didn't want to turn around, because admittedly, he was really tired.  

The younger could hear Jinyoung's jogging footsteps begin to trail behind him, and soon caught up, walking at the pace that Daehwi was. The light brown haired boy, Daehwi, rolled his eyes, not knowing whether Jinyoung noticed his annoyance or not. "Ok. Since you bought me that food and those drinks, it's fine if you stay at my place. Just until the roads are re-opened."

It's like letting people stay over became a habit. First Jihoon, now Jinyoung. Surprisingly, Daehwi was more fond of simple Park Jihoon staying over rather than a world class model. He had only allowed him to stay at his place, so it was a fair trade, and not thought of as pity.

"Great! Lead the way!" The black haired male exclaimed, practically jumping onto Daehwi's back. He had the attention span of a goldfish, it's like he already forgot that Daehwi was extremely sick at the moment. He had only remembered it the moment Daehwi's coughing fit began. The older apologetically bowed at him and patted him on the back in a sort of comfort.

***

Once again, Daehwi was wrestling with the lock on the dilapidated door knob. He tried to unlock it as fast as he could to  _not_ embarrass himself in front of a huge public figure. 

"Finally!" The younger man exasperatedly let out. "I'm so sorry if that kept you waiting too long. But please, make yourself comfortable.." Daehwi was still catching his breath as he took Jinyoung's jacket for him and hung both of theirs on the rack. Jinyoung continued into the kitchen, looking around the room, most likely not used to seeing houses that are not above average.

It was kind of humiliating to Daehwi that he had such a small apartment, and no dining table, let-alone no dining room to even begin with. All he was holding onto at this point was that he just cleaned the apartment the day before.  _Thank goodness,_ he thought to himself.

"I guess I'll just sit down here." The model stated, as he crouched down next to the coffee table that has been serving as a dining table for the past months. Jinyoung still looked rather excited to be something,  _not_ so formal _._  To Daehwi, he looked like a 5 year old boy who had just learned to walk, and he rolled his eyes at the comparison. 

"So I actually have some snacks laying around in the kitchen. If you want, I can go grab them!" Jinyoung politely nodded in response, still sitting cross legged as he swung back and forth. Daehwi awkwardly waddled out of the room. 

 _Damn it. It's not even those fancy expensive snacks. Just chips and some other convenience store food._ Daehwi mentally slapped himself.

A few moments later, he re-entered with an armful of extra snacks that him and Guanlin never properly finished. "Sorry if it's not up to your, ' _standards',_ but it's the most I've got right now." Daehwi just straight up said, having stopped caring just a few moments ago.

Jinyoung clapped his hands together, "They're such cute snacks! Last time I had this was when kids at school shared with me!" Daehwi had to admit that he looked cute being so excited about snacks. The younger made his way to the empty spot next to Jinyoung, hoping his cold could make it seem like he wasn't blushing about the older's charming actions.

"You can have all of the snacks. I'm sick anyway and my roommate's gonna keep bothering me about eating healthy while I'm not feeling well." Daehwi pouted and crossed his arms, upset that he has to watch someone eat all of his food.

"Oh, I was about to tell you to eat it. I'm on a diet right now, and if I gain any more weight, I'm going to get kicked out of my next photoshoot." Jinyoung slanted his head and jerked up one eyebrow, looking surprised at the coincidence.

"Are you serious?! I was back there stressing about how my  _peasant_ snacks aren't good enough to accommodate your high class stomach." The younger protested. "If you don't like the peasant food, just tell me. Because judging by your orders at seoulmates cafe, your diet's already messed up." Daehwi scoffed out, making Jinyoung choke on his spit.

"I'll let you know, the company told me to improve my cold public image. You just so happened to be there at the cafe, and I just so happened to be ignorant as to what to order." Jinyoung looked impressed with himself, and Daehwi couldn't help but hold back a laugh.

"I knew it! I knew you wouldn't just do any of that for a random person!" Daehwi had his finger pointed straight at the model's face in accusation. Jinyoung just grunted and slapped Daehwi's finger away from his face. After that, a few seconds of silence, followed by a sigh from both of them.

"It's been a really long time since I hung out with someone like a normal person." Jinyoung leaned back on the couch behind him and gave a little smile to Daehwi, who on the other hand, was intrigued by what he meant. 

"Every time I do something like this for the public eye, I always secretly hope that whoever it is I'm helping has never heard of me." The older leaned his head back, just staring up at the ceiling. It was dead quiet for a second until Daehwi couldn't let the awkwardness float around the room any longer.

"I actually knew who you were, but I didn't really see you as a good person.." He finally said. And it felt so good to get that off of his chest, not that they were opening up and all.

"Oh _really_? Well then I should just follow your accusations and stop treating you while you're sick." Jinyoung said in a jokingly way.

"But seriously, I thought you were this perfect, but cocky _being_ that couldn't accept that they have flaws like everyone else." Daehwi felt it was okay to give Jinyoung a little jab on the shoulder, and so he did.

"To be honest.. I have it rough too. My father distanced me from my childhood, so I could act more mature, telling me to forget everything that immature kids taught me. I lost such a big part of my life that everyone else has." At this point, Daehwi felt terrible, but also wished he could forget his own childhood, and everything that happened with him and Sungchoon.

He was forced to carry the weight of someone's death. He was so young when it happened too, and it took him years to recover. No one knew about it except himself, that he had tried to kill himself so many times, not being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel anymore.

"Both of us have it rough then, yeah?" Daehwi chuckled out. 

"Well at least you probably have real friends. All of mine are just from my dad's company, and I barely even know them." Jinyoung looking like he gave up at this point, took a chip from the table of snacks laying in front of them. Daehwi laughed a bit at the sight before him.

"I..I can be your friend." The brunette boy stuttered out. "I should also introduce you to my two other close friends then. None of them would go crazy over your presence or anything. I promise!" He followed up his sentence with, trying to mask his last statement. Jinyoung's face immediately lit up, his smile looking so much realer than Daehwi has ever seen on magazine covers.

Daehwi felt good about getting even, and was glad he found a new friend.  _A friend who could help pay for rent._ Of course, the younger was still mildly annoyed at Jinyoung, but not for the same reason. Now at how impulsive and easily taken over this boy was.

***

A few episodes of some American show had passed, and the two were exhausted. Daehwi checked every 10 minutes to see if the freezing rain had stopped, no longer willing to spend time with Jinyoung. Jinyoung seemed too clingy, and that annoyed the younger. He understood that Jinyoung had never had any real friends, but it didn't mean he could share his whole life story with Daehwi.

Right in time, before Daehwi killed Jinyoung for talking so much, the boy heard his roommate finally come home from work.

"Holy. Shit." Guanlin dropped the bags in his hands that were filled with even more convenience store food, which was followed by him gaping at the sight.

"You just brought home a walking bank Lee Daehwi..." Is all Guanlin could say as a reaction to the person in front of him. Immediately walking over, Guanlin grabbed the soft hands of the model. "You're real!" The youngest screamed out as if he was proving a point. He then turned his gaze over to Daehwi, who was again, focused on the large TV screen in front of him. "Is he going to stay over Daehwi?" Guanlin asked after regaining his poise.

"Jihoon told me that the freezing rain wasn't going to stop until tomorrow, and I don't think that he should be walking outside, late at night, in this whether.." The black haired boy was practically begging Daehwi to let Jinyoung stay.

"He's not a child,  _Guanlin,_ he can handle it out there" Daehwi said, knowing he couldn't stand the presence of Jinyoung any longer.

"He's right. I don't want to hassle you any more than I already have, so I'm gonna take my leave now." Jinyoung stated as he began to write something down on a tissue. Handing it to Daehwi, he said "contact me in case you need anything", and the napkin had a phone number and email on it.

With that, Jinyoung headed out, and started on his way back to his house in the center of Seoul.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh God.. I'm sorry for the late update...
> 
> At first I took a break when I was trying to get over JBJ's disbandment (support them in the future!!)  
> And then some other life shiitt happened, including school getting more difficult. When summer vacation started, I wanted to write so badly, but then I realized I had frickin summer school for a month, and so these last weeks of my vacation will be dedicated to getting out new chapters!

**Author's Note:**

> So... Wanna press that Kudos button cuz its the only thing to make my dumbass happy?
> 
> I have so much of this fanfic planned thanks to boredom in class :')  
> Also, I'm trying to stick to one POV but it's probably not gonna work out in the long run


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